Since the commencement of their program to fight grain storage pests, Agriculture technology company Bio-Gene Technology (ASX: BGT) continues to report strong trial results with current trials reaching the six-month mark and still effectively preventing pest growth.
As the world population continues expanding and higher food storage levels are required, loss of grains and grain-based products caused by insects and pests will emerge as a growing problem. These losses range from 10% product loss in temperate regions to 50% in tropical areas.
Conducting the grain storage research trials in partnership with the Department of Agriculture & Fisheries, Queensland Government (DAF), Bio-Gene’s product Flavocide is proving an effective insecticide against the offspring of adult Lesser grain borers, a major grain storage pest.
“We are delighted that this most recent trial work, to demonstrate the long-term efficacy of Flavocide, has proven to be positive,” said Bio-Gene CEO, Richard Jagger.
“An increase from 3 months to 6 months residual control is an excellent outcome. This will hopefully create significant potential for commercial opportunities.
“These results clearly demonstrate the potential for incorporating Flavocide into grain protection pest management programs and further strengthens the commercial viability of our product.”
Bio-Gene will now extend the testing to a nine-month assessment, continuing to test the efficacy of Flavocide and in combination with other chemical variants and against a broader range of target pests.
Similar to the human trend of increasing resistance to broad spectrum antibiotics as a result of continued generational use, pests are becoming increasingly resistant to older ranges of insecticides. As this problem increases alongside human food consumption trajectories, the protection for stored grain will become a rising economic necessity where grain used for domestic human consumption must not contain live insects.
Alfred Chan is an Analyst at Emerald Financial, specialising in ASX-listed small cap companies.
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